“Meet the Locals from the Past” and our unique walking tour Marais will take you back in the past to discover its rich History in a lively manner. Find out how past celebrities lived in private mansions and opulent gardens and be part of their history!

This exclusive tour will introduce you to some of the most aristocratic personalities and noble scallywags who resided in Le Marais. Here is how it works

At the start of the tour, you’ll receive a Historical Character Card.

This card will give you the chance to walk in the footsteps of celebrity preachers, mad kings or plotting marquises. Don’t worry! You won’t have to do any acting!

Along the tour, your Welcomer will call your card. Just listen to the incredible life of your character!

Le Marais is a Parisian quarter positioned in the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine. Every corner in Le Marais shares a crucial part of French History. It has been home to Paris’s first aristocratic neighborhood, a vibrant Jewish community, a duel field and backyard factories.

Marais means swamp in French — which makes it sound like a great place for a stroll, right? Luckily, monks drained the swamps centuries ago and replaced them with pastures and orchards. As you stroll along the picturesque part of Le Marais, between the Seine and Rue Saint Antoine, your welcomer will uncover traces of medieval Paris and make you travel back in the lively times of the Middle Ages.

Walking tour in Le Marais that will make history come alive!

As centuries went by, in Le Marais bloomed magnificent private mansions that became nowadays museums and cultural centers. Your welcomer will unveil the discreet foreign affairs and murder strategies that were once plotted behind their well-off façades.

Place des Vosges is your next stop. With its rich history, this former Royal Square has witnessed major events during the past few centuries. Today, this square holds some of the most expensive flats in Paris. Listen closely to your welcomer, he will have so much to tell you about it!

As you go along this Marais walking tour, enjoy a serene walk into the secluded courtyards of the Saint-Paul Village while learning about a former Royal Residence and its owners.

Last but not least, explore the vibrant heart of the Marais’s Jewish community, located in Rue des Rosiers. A beautifully designed synagogue is still to be seen around the corner.

Now back to the present! It is time for you to enjoy a drink with your welcomer in a typical French coffee shop! Feel free to explore the rest of Le Marais later on as it still has great areas to explore! Whether you are a shopping addict or a bar hopper (or both :)), le Marais is considered today as the hub of Parisian fashion and trends.

Are we going to walk during 2.5 hours?

Of course not! The this walking tour marais involves only 2.5 kilometers on flat ground so you will have plenty of time to stop, take pictures, and talk to your Welcomer. This tour is ideal if you want to wander through Paris at a smooth pace.

Can children attend this Walking tour Marais

Children are welcome but we highly recommend our Family Friendly Tours, as they are more adapted to youngsters. We provide them with creative and informative activities!

Won’t it be boring if I’m not a “History addict”?

You won’t ever think History can be boring after this walking tour Marais. It’s a very interactive and playful visit, with a bunch of fascinating anecdotes and facts. You will get historical information in a way you never experienced before!

Can this walking tour be privatized?

Of course, we would be more than happy to propose you a private version of this tour! Just contact us here to make this request.

Local experts in Le Marais
We really enjoyed our Le Marais tour with Caroline. She was very funny, helpful, engaging with her breadth of knowledge for La Marais, city, culture and history. It was very impressive for our group of friends who were visiting Paris for the 2nd time. Caroline gave each of us a card adorned with a portrait of a historical figure. It was quite funny and interesting how we had the impression of living an authentic French historical experience as it was at the time of the kings. Nearby the Saint Paul and Saint Louis church, we were told about the social life and lifestyle of times past which was fascinating in today’s world. Place des Vosges is the heart of La Marais. There Caroline gave details about Sevigne, a famous female writer. I think I might read some of her literature. I really appreciate how Caroline explained about her life, which is very close to my heart.

Jane, Chicago – 12 September 2017:

My three girlfriends and I went on a tour with Sophie of the Marais. It was so fun because she named us after real people in the nobility and told us the story of our lives. Highly recommend!! Plan to take more tours with them.

Chris-Noelle (Illinois) – 12 September 2017:

Our tour guide was Sophie and she was fabulous! She was very knowledgeable and incorporated all of us into this interesting tour of the Marais. We had so much fun. We would definitely book another tour with Meet the Locals! C’est magnifique!!

MikaWenig München, Germany – 6 June 2017:

It was a huge – but good – surprise to visit Le marais district with this new type of tour – as far as I understood it to be . Our guide, Camille, made us choose “playing cards”, with historical people on them and you become this guy (or woman) for the rest of the tour. I was a famous playwright – famous for French people mainly – and my husband a very famous marquise – very fun indeed! It was really interesting as a walking tour. I would now think about booking other activities with this agency, maybe one of their photo tours for our next stay this winter.

Emilie_Drd Port-Louis – 26 May 2017:

We were happy with both tours we took. First we did the historical tour of Montmartre and, as it was so good, we also decided to do their historical tour in le Marais. The guides were just awesome and super good storytellers. They distribute cards that describe historical figures who played a role in history. A real fun way to learn about history. Meeting places were outside Metro stops and really easy to find.